


Patient Case File #77

by noodlerdoodler



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mental Health Issues, Multiple Personalities, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlerdoodler/pseuds/noodlerdoodler
Summary: An alternative universe, in which Vanya Hargreeves (the host) is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Each sibling is a different 'alter' in a system: Luther is the gatekeeper that keeps charge, Diego is the well-intentioned protector, Allison is the motherly caretaker, Klaus is the trauma holder, Five is the child alter with a superiority complex, Ben is a 'dead' alter, and Vanya deals quietly with daily life, unaware that she isn't alone.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Reginald Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves & Everyone
Comments: 22
Kudos: 311





	Patient Case File #77

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclaimer that I do not have DID but have heavily researched it prior to writing and intend to represent it as accurately as possible. I do not intend to offend anyone. Any errors appear through fault of my own. The main reason I thought of this is because I thought the Hargreeves siblings could easily be seen as part of the same person, whose personality has been splintered due to abuse. To me, they all represent different ways of dealing with abuse and trauma- something I do have experience with. This is meant to be an exploration of DID, abuse, and the long-term impact of child abuse. It is not intended to romanticise, fetishise, or stigmatise DID in the slightest. I hope this is a decent representation of the disorder and that people enjoy it or learn something at the least. 
> 
> Sources: 
> 
> https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder#1  
> http://traumadissociation.com/alters  
> https://www.discussingdissociation.com/2009/08/20-types-of-dissociative-splits/  
> https://sarahkreece.com/2012/08/07/what-is-co-consciousness/
> 
> Books I've read about DID:
> 
> Today I'm Alice  
> Sybil  
> Pretty Girl Thirteen  
> The Flock  
> All of Me
> 
> Other sources:
> 
> DisassociaDID on Youtube  
> MultiplicityAndMe on Youtube

** _25/04/2019 - Patient Case File #77_ **

** _Patient name: Vanya Hargreeves_ **

_Diagnoses: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Body Dysmorphia (alter), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (alter), Substance Abuse (alter)._

_Patient reports experiencing symptoms since early childhood, likely since infant-hood. Suspected cause is abuse at hands of father and/or family friends during early years, beginning sometime before the patient’s fourth birthday and continuing until adolescence. Primary symptoms are as follows: patient reports blackouts in which she loses long periods of time, regular amnesia (cannot remember what occurred during blackouts), “out of body” experiences AKA disassociation, and regular headaches. The existence of at least seven ‘alters’ has been verified. Patient (with help of therapist) has identified a handful of triggers, including extreme emotions and “ringing” noises, which may cause switches. Certain alters also have their own triggers: mentions/discussions of patient's father will bring forth Klaus and situations requiring maturity are largely handed by Allison._

_Due to symptoms, patient struggles to complete many everyday tasks, particularly because of blackouts. These can occur at any time and for any period of time, meaning that patient has many blank spaces in their memory where they can't recall doing anything. For example, patient describes attending father’s funeral on March 24th, experiencing dissociative symptoms, and then “waking up” eight days later on April 1st on stage at music academy she attends. Patient has no idea what occurred in the meantime but found several signs that somebody had been living in her apartment- notably wearing lipstick (patient does not) and consuming large amounts of alcohol._

_As of now, seven alters have been identified including Vanya, (the host). The alters consist of one other female and five males respectively, most around the same age as the host, and all display distinctive personalities and mannerisms. These alters help the patient cope with past trauma, as well as everyday life, and some seem to have existed from as early as infant-hood. Since starting therapy, several alters have made themselves known and have been verified as being completely separate from Vanya and each other. Therefore, sufficient evidence has been found to diagnose Vanya Hargreeves with Dissociative Identity Disorder, although patient is slightly in denial about existence of other alters._

** _The following alters have been identified:_ **

_**Luther** \- also referred to as ‘Number One' or ‘Space Boy’ by other alters. He is a ‘Gatekeeper’ and views himself as being the "leader" of the group, holding back memories from other alters and preventing traumatised alters from appearing at inconvenient times. He appears to have some control over which alters are fronting, as well as having knowledge about the other alters. In many ways, this distinguishes him from the other alters, who only seem vaguely aware that the others exist and don't often understand what roles each of them hold in the system. Luther knows what everyone does and who the best person is to front in each situation. He dislikes Diego and Klaus and has confided that he tries to keep them from fronting very often, although he doesn't have complete control over them. In particular, he describes Diego as being a "stubborn bastard" who pushes his way to the front. Luther has also confided that he prefers to control things on the inside rather than front very often. He says Allison fronts the most because he considers her the most trustworthy and level-headed compared to the others. _

_Unlike the other alters, Luther holds his father in high respects and believes he was a good man who did good work. He does not seem to realise that the body was likely abused at the hands of the father and seems to distrust the others' memories of this. Luther does not trust his mother and thinks that she played a role in his father's death. Luther struggles privately with body dysphoria and grows frustrated with being stuck in the body, often verbalising that his father “did this to him” when he grows frustrated. In this way, he seems to acknowledge some mistreatment from the father subconsciously, even if he lives in denial. Additionally, Luther has a particular fixation with the moon and insists that he used to live there, although he can’t explain why there is no proof of this. The moon seems to represent feelings of isolation and distance._

**Diego** _\- also referred to as ‘Number Two’ or ‘The Kraken’ by other alters. He is a ‘Persecutor’ and deals with perceived threats to the body as well as other alters. Although he acts with good intentions and is trying to protect the others, he can often make bad decisions and do more damage than good. He finds emotional needs very threatening and often punishes Vanya or Klaus for needing support or for (in the case of Klaus) revealing trauma he believes shouldn’t be spoken about. He will often front when the others feel threatened- for example, if Vanya grows very upset discussing something during a session, Diego will often displace her to protect her feelings. Allison and Klaus have both stated (with annoyance) that they have had sexual encounters ruined because Diego viewed their respective partners as a threat and leapt out to protect them._

_The opposite of Luther, Diego hates his father (who he sees as manipulative and distrustful) and is instead loyal to his mother, whom he has a good relationship with. He seems to be the only alter to have a strong bond with the mother, while the others resent her for standing by or feel neutral towards her. Diego is desperate to prove himself (to his father?) and believes that he is some kind of ‘hero’, who is meant to save everyone. Although it is difficult to get much information out of him, he has stated that he is Hispanic and demonstrates an understanding of Spanish- a language that Vanya, the host, does not speak. This was useful in distinguishing him as an alter completely separate from Vanya's own personality. To some extent, he is aware of the other alters as he vows to protect "the others" but seems to lack any details about who the others are. Briefly, he has mentioned a passion for knives, which has raised concerns among those responsible for the patients' wellbeing._

** Allison ** _\- also referred to as ‘Number Three’ or ‘The Rumour’ by other alters. She fulfils a ‘Caretaker’ role, looking after other alters like a mother figure (due to real one being absent?) and does have a child of her own, who lives with her ex-partner. As well as caring for alters, she helps manage everyday life (with Vanya- both ANPs) and has very few traumatic memories. Unlike the other alters, Allison has clear goals and aspires to be an actress. The lack of love from her father may have caused Allison to look for love in other places, like in the public eye, in order to fill that gap in her life. She has said that Klaus needs the most looking after, while Vanya and Five (despite being the youngest) need the least, because he is the worst at taking care of himself. Diego is the only alter that she doesn’t get along as he harms the body and she looks after it, meaning that they often conflict with each other. She says he is “too reckless for his own good”._

_She is easily the most charming of the alters and seems to be a 'good girl', who aimed to please her parents and keep everyone around her happy. According to Allison, she is one of the oldest alters and can remember the body being three or four years old. Currently, her and Klaus are the only ones that are confirmed to have formed so early but other alters may have faded or changed over time. She is the most willing to talk in therapy as she seems reasonably happy and seems to hold the least trauma of the group- she says that she "cared for Vanya when she was very little". She is much more social than Vanya (the other ANP), so seems to negotiate most interactions with other people and speaks a total of eight languages, far more than the other alters. Allison, like Diego and Ben, is one of the alters whose race is not the same as the body's- she is a black woman._

_**Klaus** \- also referred to as ‘Number Four’ or ‘The Seance’ by other alters. An ‘Emotional Part’ (EP) who seems to hold the majority of trauma and has developed a substance addiction in order to deal with it. He seems to drink heavily, abuse drugs, and is largely disconnected from reality. He often doesn’t seem to know where or when he is and seems to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Often, Klaus is triggered to front by discussion of Vanya’s father and it is suspected that Klaus be one of the initial alters that was formed during childhood, like Allison. He is aware that he is part of a system of alters and often refers to the other alters in conversation. He is distinguishable from other alters by his laid-back mannerisms, as well as being the most willing to bare his soul in conversation. He often makes jokes, makes fun of the other alters, and is very rarely found sober. However, he can often be reckless- notably smashing a snow globe over his own head- and shows a severe lack of care for the body. _

_When Klaus is sober, he seems unable to deal with his own trauma and another alter will usually take his place. He seems to be co-conscious* with Ben most of the time and is content to relay whatever Ben wants to say for him. Klaus says that he is the most sexually active of the alters, though Diego often gets in the way, and that sexual encounters can also trigger him to front. He claims that he fought in the Vietnam War and that he can remember it. When pushed, he can describe it in vivid detail as if he was indeed there. None of the other alters seem to know much about war or Vietnam but Luther believes that someone in the system did a history project at some point and Klaus picked up the idea from there._

_*While Klaus is out, Ben also seems to be aware of what is going on and “sitting in the backseat” (described by Klaus), constantly commenting on what he’s doing._

_**Five** \- the ‘youngest’ personality and newest to surface, possibly why he lacks a real name and is only referred to by number. Although his age slides regularly, he is a ‘Child Alter’ and holds several memories of child abuse, stuck at the age of when the body’s abuse was coming to an end. He is in denial about the fact that he belongs to a system and seems completely unaware of the other alters existence- he reasons that he is a time traveller, which is why he disappears for long periods of time, instead of recognising that this is when other alters take over the body. He is stubborn, often rude, and condescending, despite his age. It is possible that Five’s personality is largely a reflection of his father’s, as he thinks he is much smarter than any given person and that he can control not just the body but everything around him. This lines up with a lot of what the other alters recall about the father. _

_His superiority complex has been mentioned and complained about by other alters- they know that he exists but he hasn't acknowledged them, which annoys the majority of them. Five enjoys sweet and sugary foods, such as marshmallows and peanut butter sandwiches, which is also something other alters have complained about. Luther (gatekeeper) says that everyone is still adjusting to Five returning to the system, which suggests he isn't a brand new alter but a dormant one who has recently resurfaced. When asked by the therapist if he had a name he preferred, Five seemed offended._

** Ben ** _\- also referred to as ‘Number Six’ or ‘The Horror’ by other alters. He is a ‘dead’ alter and may have been killed during adolescence, developed to contain the memory of a near-death experience faced by the body. Only Klaus and Luther acknowledge Ben’s existence in the system, while the others seem to have no idea he ever existed. Only Klaus seems to be able to communicate with him. Ben has never actually fronted but is often co-conscious with Klaus, who acts like an interpreter; initially, Ben's existence was doubted but Luther has verified that he is a real alter, just one who is in a lot of pain and is too traumatised to front._

_What little is known about Ben has come from Klaus, who has delivered conflicting information about them. He claimed that Ben is a teenager on occasion and that Ben is the same age as him on a different one- this could be linked to Klaus’s general confusion about whether he is in the present or the past or possibly, Ben could be an age-slider. Klaus also claims that Ben is his brother but at the same time claims they aren’t related, so their relationship is slightly unclear. One thing Klaus is sure about is that Ben is Korean-American, making him one of the alters whose race doesn’t align with the body’s, and he confirmed that Ben is bilingual ("but I never understand what he's talking about")._

_**Vanya** \- also referred to as ‘Number Seven’ or ‘White Violin’ by other alters. She is an ‘Apparently Normal Part’ (ANP) and the host, which means she manages everyday life and does not hold any trauma memories. She is completely unaware of the traumatic experiences that the body has had and experiences amnesia when it comes to the other alters being out- she doesn’t seem to be aware of anything they’re doing. Although she’s reluctant to admit to being part of a system, she has admitted that she “feels pushed to the side” even in her own brain. This seems to reflect how she felt neglected as a child by her family and peers. _

_She feels fairly neutral towards both parents- for the most part, Diego holds the hatred towards the father and Luther holds the distrust towards the mother. She seems less sure of herself than most of the other alters and seems to be struggling with acknowledging her alters. Some alters claim that when they aren’t fronting, they go somewhere else in the mind and can even interact with each other on occasion- Vanya is not able to do this and feels completely alone. Vanya responds well to therapy when she is ‘there’ but is often pushed to the back by some of the more dominant alters. As well as belonging to a DID system, Vanya was initially diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder and Depression, both of which she takes medication for. None of the other alters currently take prescribed medications._

_ **Treatment Plan:** _

_The best way forward seems to be to treat each alter individually. Each one has their own struggles and traumatic experiences, which they aren't capable of overcoming on their own. Vanya will continue to be treated for her anxiety and depression, as well as helping her come to terms with the fact that she is part of a system; Diego will be counselled on how to deal with perceived threats safely and helped to deal with his hero complex; Five also needs to understand that he is part of a system and learn to work with the other alters, instead of working against them; Klaus will need support as the 'trauma holder' before he can start working on overcoming his addictions; Luther and Allison need the least active treatment, although the former needs to deal with his repressed feelings towards his parents. As Allison is one of the oldest alters, she could be helpful in working with the others, as she knows when and why they formed (to an extent). Similarly, Luther seems to be aware of most of the system's experiences, so can provide a useful oversight._

_There won't be any attempt to merge or destroy alters, as this would likely lead to more confusion and could cause more long-term harm. All members of the system need to learn to work better together- for example, Vanya has mentioned that she would like notes on what happens during the time she's "not out", Allison wants Klaus to be more careful, and (for once) all alters have agreed on the fact that Five needs to stop with the sandwiches._


End file.
